The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved US$42mn grants to support the national agriculture investment plan in Sudan
Mohamed Zaghloul, executive director representing Egypt and Djibouti, said, “The Bank’s support to the development of key agricultural value chains and market access is timely and will go a long way in helping Sudan in its efforts to revive its agriculture sector.”
Estimated at a total cost of US$47.5mn, the five-year Agricultural Value Chain Development Project will also receive US$1mn from the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance and an estimated US$4.5mn from the government of Sudan for selected activities.
The project is set to help drive comprehensive socio-economic development with a dynamic, climate-resilient agricultural sector that will, in turn, enhance production and productivity, improve household incomes and food security, and create markets and facilitate trade.
Starting in July-August 2018 in North Kordofan, West Kordofan, and Khartoum States, the project focuses on groundnuts, sesame, potato, and gum Arabic.
Farmers in about 236,457 households in 13 localities in the Kordofan Region are expected to get the benefit directly.
In Khartoum State and its surroundings, potato farmers cultivating more than 50,000 ha will also benefit. About two million residents in North and West Kordofan States will benefit indirectly from the project.
The project is in line with AfDB’s Ten Year Strategy (2013-2022), particularly for private-sector development, agriculture and food security, the High 5s Feed Africa Strategy (2016-2025), its flagship Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation, and its Empowering Novel Agribusiness-Led Employment for Youth in African Agriculture Project (ENABLE Youth).
